Not On Your Life
by shinyumbreon2
Summary: There's an enemy on the way to seek vengeance, and Gohan has to be warned. What a way to meet your dead relatives.


**A/N: So, for those of you who just jumped into this, this connects with Chapter 12 of my story, "Identity". If you are extremely confused as to what's going on, that's why.**

 **For those of you coming from "Identity" and asking why I only now just got to this... Good question. Hey, school and work have been kicking my butt recently, at least I'm writing in some form.**

* * *

Gohan wasn't exactly sure where he was. One minute he was sleeping, the next he was wide awake in a completely different place. Unless he never fell asleep, which didn't seem likely, but for whatever reason Gohan found himself unsure if he ever climbed into bed.

There was one thing he knew, though: wherever he was, it was totally pitch black.

Which made it extra unsettling when he heard footsteps approaching from behind.

Not wanting to take any chances, Gohan whipped around and assumed a fighting stance, on guard just in case the incoming being was a threat. The half Saiyan waited as the sound came closer and closer. Then, suddenly, it stopped. He wasn't sure why they had, but he didn't relax. For all he knew, the plan was to lure him into a false sense of security.

Then there was a snort. "Well, at least your father taught you, even if he was soft," a gruff male voice commented.

The half Saiyan was briefly confused on how the man knew of his dad, but he dropped it to raise his guard again. "Don't insult my dad," Gohan warned. "He was a great man."

"Maybe by damn Earthling standards," the man grumbled.

 _Oh, just fantastic,_ Gohan sighed. "Don't tell me: you're a Saiyan, disappointed that he's not a cold-blooded killer," he stated, rolling his eyes.

"If he were, Frieza would've died on Namek," was the counter. There was a slight snicker. "And perhaps he wouldn't have had such a sniveling, soft-hearted brat for a son."

Gohan could count the number of times he snapped from annoyance on one hand.

Time to add another to the small list.

He fired a ki blast straight ahead, and since it flew off and disappeared into the distance, he figured the attack had missed. Then he felt someone behind him, and Gohan barely had time to turn and block the kick directed to his side. There was a flash of red as the leg retracted quickly, and Gohan's fist connected with someone else's when the eleven-year-old threw a punch. Once again, there was a flash of crimson red as the body part moved away.

Throughout the whole fight, Gohan only saw blurs of the color red, and on occasion he was sure he saw bits of green. Whoever the half-breed was fighting, he was really good. There were plenty of times his opponent caught him off guard, sending Gohan flying. That wasn't to say he didn't get his own fair share of hits in, even getting an elbow to the man's stomach and a left hook to his right check.

All of this in the complete pitch black darkness; Gohan was quite impressed with himself.

At one point, Gohan jumped back, and - from the sound of it - so did his opponent. Both fighters were panting slightly, and then there was a low chuckle from the mysterious Saiyan. "I retract my brat statement from earlier," he reported. "At least, a little bit."

"Very funny," Gohan huffed.

"If you don't think it is, prove me wrong," the man challenged.

 _This guy and Kat are going to be the end of my self-restraint,_ Gohan thought before sighing. Then he turned Super Saiyan, having a feeling his challenger wouldn't accept anything other than his "full" power.

Hey, he figured the mysterious Saiyan would have a hard time picking his jaw off the floor at just the standard transformation.

Casting the bright yellow aura, though, brought forth a development that had Gohan gaping instead.

"W-wait, _Dad_?" he squeaked.

The Goku look-a-like put on a smirking grin. "Not quite," he corrected. "Try jumping back a generation."

As if this place couldn't get any weirder.

Upon closer inspection of his grandfather, there were differences in the face. Besides the obvious slightly more evil look, there was an X-shaped scar on his left cheek and a crimson red headband holding back some of that wild gravity-defying hair, and his skin was slightly tanner.

Then there was the Saiyan armor, one that looked suspiciously familiar to Bulma's design, except it was dark blue and green, plus it had those thigh guards like Vegeta's old armor. On the man's forearms were crimson red armbands, and his still-intact chestnut-colored tail was wrapped around his waist. He wore the bottom half of the black jumpsuit, crimson red shin-high leg bands, and black boots with green tips.

To think _this_ was Gohan's parental grandfather.

"So... Um... What now?" Gohan questioned.

His deceased relative rolled his midnight black eyes and went back into a fighting stance. "We keep up our fight," he demanded. "I want to see if the legendary form lives up to the hype."

Gohan stopped his admiring to groan deeply. "You and Kat aren't just the end to my self-restraint; you'll be the end of me, _period_ ," he muttered.

"What was that, boy?"

"Nothing," Gohan replied immediately to the irritated question.

"That's more like it," his grandfather snickered. "Now, show me some of that Super Saiyan power."

If only to wipe that smirking grin off his face.

But when Gohan charged, he felt a palm on the back of his head, and it guided him into smacking the older fighter's forehead. The impact made them recoil and moan in pain, and as they tended to their sore spots, there was a feminine huff.

"Seriously, Bardock?" the new person scolded. "I leave you for five minutes, and you act like a child."

"What's wrong with wanting to see how strong he is?" Bardock grumbled.

"A lot, considering how much time we have," she retorted.

"Okay, but why did I have to get hurt, too?" Gohan moaned quietly, still rubbing his forehead.

The woman giggled while Bardock huffed at Gohan's complaining. "Well, I just figured that my grandson was just as stubborn," she explained. Gohan's head snapped up.

Instead of someone just as mean-looking as his grandfather, he found someone of a much slender build and gentler aura. She had a light-complexion and shaggy black hair reaching her shoulders. She wore a sleeveless black bodysuit and pink combat armor highlighted with green and outlined by white, in addition to blue armbands and white boots. Her armor also had a thigh-length hoop. And unlike her (presumed-to-be) husband, her brown tail freely wagged behind her.

There was only one question Gohan could bring to mind, and he finally looked at Bardock to ask it. "How did _you_ get someone so nice and well-kept?"

For his curiosity, Gohan received a small ki blast to the face from the grumpy male.

Meanwhile, the woman had doubled over laughing. "I-I told you h-he'd ask that!" she stuttered in between fits of guffawing.

"Yes, yes, Gine, you know _everything_ ," Bardock snorted sarcastically and bitterly.

"It's a legitimate question!" Gohan defended, recovering much faster to try and save face.

"Never mind; you're a brat, through and through."

"Ignore your grandfather," Gine advised. "I call him Mr. Grumpy for a reason." Gohan tried his hardest not to laugh in any sort of way while Bardock growled. Suddenly, the joking, light-hearted nature left her inky black eyes, replaced by a seriousness that demanded his full attention. "We didn't come here to meet you, as much as I would like it to be the case; we came here to warn you."

"Warn me?" Gohan repeated, slightly frightened.

"It really shouldn't be an issue, considering how well you just fought," Bardock brushed off, a spark of pride in his eye. "Nevertheless, King Yemma wanted us to inform you that a spirit from Hell escaped."

Gohan eyed both of his grandparents. "Um... Either-"

"I wouldn't exactly be talking to you right at the moment if it was me," the man interrupted. Then he nodded towards his wife. "And your grandmother isn't qualified, anyway."

"Qualified?"

Gine giggled. "You're looking at one of two Saiyans in Heaven!" she happily relayed.

Once again, Gohan stared at Bardock, and the man glared, knowing the question the boy had in store. He asked it anyway.

"Seriously, _how_?"

"You're lucky we're in your dreams, or I'd kill you," Bardock promised.

Feeling particularly daring and cocky at the moment, Gohan smiled knowingly. "Then I'm glad you're not the spirit, aren't I?" he stated.

" _Very_ lucky," Bardock reinforced.

Gohan smirked a tad. "But how did a spirit from Hell escape?" he asked, getting back on topic.

"Every 100 years, the spirits in Hell start getting a bit rowdy," Gine answered. "When that happens, a portal to the realm of the living opens up. Usually King Yemma and his helpers are able to close it before the spirits run free."

"But this time, with almost every single Saiyan, that bastard Frieza, the creature Cell, and a handful of others, the spirits were too many and too powerful," Bardock continued. "So you can imagine how much power that is."

"Yeah," Gohan agreed. Then something hit him, and his eyes went wide. The young half-breed practically tackled Bardock. "Please don't tell me it's Frieza or Cell!"

"Gah, Kid, warning next time!" the man shouted. That didn't help Gohan's nerves, so Bardock sighed. "No, it's neither. But you're much stronger than Frieza, and you beat Cell already."

"That doesn't mean I want to do it again!" Gohan cried.

Bardock smirked. "Then you're glad they're not the spirit, are you?" he taunted.

Gohan stopped panicking and frowned in annoyance. "I hate you," he said bluntly.

"Huh, what do you know; you and your uncle _do_ have something in common." Gohan huffed, and then his grandfather started again. "The spirit is someone much easier," he assured. "If you could hold up that well against me in the dark, Nappa is a walk in the park."

"Nappa?" Gohan repeated in surprise. "But that'll be e... Oh."

"See, told you," Bardock stated nonchalantly.

"Except you're forgetting the part where King Yemma said he had a feeling of dread," Gine snipped. "Really, Bardock?"

But her husband waved a hand. "I think he's lived one too many centuries," he commented. "It's made him overly paranoid. Nappa might have been an 'elite class' warrior, but he can't think in the heat of the moment."

The half-breed noted the quotation marks, and he raised an eyebrow to it. "He wasn't elite class?"

"King Vegeta only put in the class system into place once he obtained royalty status," Gine informed, looking unhappy at the thought. "It's true we've always sent the weak to weak planets, but you used to be judged on your skill, not forever shamed by your birth power level. Technically speaking, your father and grandfather should be 'royalty' based off their prowess alone."

"Moving on from the history lesson," Bardock butt in, "King Yemma also said Nappa would most likely show up in two days. See, spirits that are in Hell don't have bodies, save a special few who are subjected to special eternal misery - and right now, me. But if they escape, their bodies will come back. Once you destroy him, though, Nappa will cease to exist entirely."

Gohan opened his mouth, and then closed it. "...Well, I think Vegeta will get a kick out of that," he finally voiced.

"Most definitely," Bardock predicted. "Now, come on Kid, off."

It was only then that Gohan realized he hadn't left his grandfather's lap, and he blushed apologetically.

"Um... Sorry," he mumbled as he stood up, letting the dead warrior get to his feet. "So, two days to prepare. Got it. Are you going to tell the others?"

"No, we're just coming to you," Gine informed. "That's all we get. So we're counting on you to get the word out." Gohan nodded.

"Good," Bardock commented. "Don't go getting yourself killed out there." He turned and began to walk off.

"Wait!" Gohan requested. The Saiyan stopped. "Did you... Did you really mean to insult Dad?"

Bardock didn't move for a moment, and then - slowly - he turned to look squarely at Gohan. "I'm not going to lie, Gohan," he began, catching the boy's attention with the use of his name. "I did my job, and I liked it. I'm a full blooded Saiyan, through and through. There was little I cared for other than my crew, where I was the leader."

Before Gohan could say anything, Bardock walked up to him, never looking anywhere other than his eyes.

"But Gine wasn't just my wife," he continued. "She was also my mate, something that you would rarely find among the Saiyans. Death to one meant death to the other, so you could imagine that wouldn't be favorable. The two of us... We couldn't have cared less.

"To say I was a good father would be a terrible lie, though. I neglected Raditz most of the time, and I even forgot the day your father was born. When Frieza destroyed the planet, though... Certain events had allowed me to see the future, and while I died with the solace that Kakarot would face off against Frieza, there was a part of me that regretted not being the father I should have."

There were a few seconds of silence before the _tiniest_ hint of a smile appeared on the older male.

"And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't proud to call you or your father my family."

A ruthless, cold-blooded, unforgiving killer; an ill-equipped father; and who knows how good of a husband he actually had been... Yet Gohan couldn't stop the tears of joy nor the fierce tight hug he gave his deceased grandfather.

Maybe it was because the boy knew this was the last time he'd ever see Bardock.

The hug had caught Bardock off guard, but he didn't move, not until he gently placed a hand on Gohan's head. Seeing the action, Gine smiled softly and joined her mate's side. She gently placed one hand on her grandson's shaking shoulder and the other on Bardock's arm.

None of them were aware of how long they stood in the same place; they just let time flow by as it pleased.

...

Gohan woke up with a start, finding himself staring at the plain white ceiling. He took a few moments to collect himself before he sighed softly.

"Two days..." he muttered, remembering Bardock's words.

For a few more seconds, Gohan laid in silence. Then he smiled with determination.

 _Don't go getting yourself killed out there._

"Not on your life, Grandpa."


End file.
